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An LGBTQ display at a church in Kansas City, Mo. was defaced with a hateful message, just days after an openly gay candidate running for local office said that vandals had spray-painted a homophobic slur on one of his campaign banners.
The latest incident of vandalism was discovered Thursday morning, on the lawn of the Kansas City United Church of Christ.
Six bright-colored doors, with a message of inclusivity that read “God’s Doors Are Open To All” were vandalized overnight, according to a tweet shared by a person who lives in the area.
“Hate is alive in KC,” Beth B. wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of the defaced display, which showed the words “pervs” and “repentance” painted on them.
Mayor Quinton Lucas retweeted the image, calling the incident “disgusting,” and something that “has no place in Kansas City.”
According to The Kansas City Star, a Pride flag was also ripped down from a pole on the church lawn.
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“It’s shocking to me,” resident Stephanie Switzer, who attends the church, told the newspaper. “Our church is about being welcoming to everybody. This is just wrong.”
Emily Stott, a secretary at the church, said that the incident was “definitely scary,” noting other incidents of hate that have been happening in the area.
On Sunday, Justice Horn, a long-time community activist who’s running for the Jackson County legislature shared a photo of a large campaign sign with the word “f-g” spray-painted over it.
“Today I learned that my campaign banner was defaced with a homophobic slur here in Kansas City,” Horn, a former college wrestler, wrote on social media.”I’ll admit, this one hurt because like so many us of who experience this, this word is used to harm us. Either way, I’m not going to back down and I’m going to hold my head high,” he added.
In April, a sign that read “All Are Welcome,” which had been placed on the lawn of a United Methodist Church in Overland Park, Kan., about 15 miles south of Kansas City, Mo. was vandalized for the second time.
The LGBTQ display vandalized overnight also represented the second time this year when UCC Kansas City was targeted by anti-LGBTQ hate.
Last month, church members decided to display the doors in the colors of the LGBTQ Pride rainbow after vandals spray-painted a Pride flag that had been displayed on the church marquee for years, local television station KSHB-TV reported.
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